Treasury Bills Investment in Gambia

15 Things You need Know

Treasury bills is an investment product that offers you utmost security as it is backed by the Central Government. It is one of the highest yield and liquid investment in the Gambia. However, many young people and small businesses are not making use of this liquid and secure investment product. Why? Because they do not understand the features and benefits of treasury bill or how to go about investing in treasury bills in the Gambia. Like any government in the world, Gambia government also uses Treasury bills to control the flow of money in the economy which impacts the interest rates. Treasury bills or T-bills are also used by many government to raise money from the public.
So then, what are the key features and benefits of treasury bills in Gambia? Here we list 15 for you.

Photo credit : https://www.flickr.com/photos/lendingmemo

[wp_ad_camp_2]

Features of Treasury Bills Investment

Treasury bills are securities issued at a discount and are redeemed at their face value at maturity .

They are direct obligations of the Government of The Gambia and the Central of Bank Gambia issues the instrument on behalf of the Central Government under the laws of The Gambia. Treasury bill are therefore different from Central Bank bills.

Central Bank bills are securities issued at a discount, are redeemed at their face value at maturity and have maturities of not more than one year. Central Bank bills are direct obligations of the Central Bank of The Gambia. They are issued under the Central Bank of The Gambia Act.

Primary Dealer (PD) in relation to Gambia banking system means an institution authorized to trade in Government securities and Central Bank bills in the primary market. Primary market is where the dealers buy the financial instruments in this case Treasury bills from the issuer. Currently most and if not all the commercial banks are primary dealers.

The minimum face valueof treasury bill investment is D25,000 and thereafter in multiple of D5,000. This means you can invest a face value of D30,000, D35,000 but not D32,000.

There are two types of biddings. Any investment with a face value below D1million are auctioned through noncompetitive bidding. Non-competitive bidders are allocated the weighted average price of competitive bids that are accepted. However, investments of D1 million and above are auctioned through competitive biddingand the investors are expected to quote their own price for every D100. Please note CBG is not necessarily oblige to accept the bidder’s price.

Investors with bids equal to or more than five million Dalasi (D5.0 million) are allowed to submit and settle their bids directly to Central Bank. In other words if your investment face value is more than or equals to D5 million, you do not have to invest through a primary dealer.

Proof of ownership – Treasury Bills certificate are issued in “book-entry” form. This means that, the certificates of holding treasury bills are kept in electronic record by the Central Bank and is adequate proof of ownership of Treasury Bills by the registered owner. This also implies that Central bank does not issue a physical certificate of investment. However, primary dealers can issue investment advice letter.

Treasury bills in the Gambia have three bucket of tenors. You can invest for 91 day, 182 day or 364 day Treasury bill.

Treasury bills are purchased for a price that is less than their face value; when they mature, the government pays the holder the full face value. Effectively, your interest is the difference between the purchase price of the bills and what you get at maturity. For example, if you bought a D25,000 90-day Treasury bill at cost of D24,100 and held it until maturity, you would earn D900 on your investment. This differs from coupon bonds, which usually pay interest semi-annually.

Those account holders who left large amount of their funds in savings accounts are actually losing money due to inflation. If inflation is 7% and banks are paying you 5% on savings, then you are losing money (-2%) in term of real return.

Liquidity – You can terminate your investments on call usually through your primary dealers.

Collateral– Your treasury bills investment can be used as a collateral for borrowing money in many banks.

There is no withholding taxon the interest earned from Treasury bills investments. Central bank or commercial bank will not withheld any interest or amount due on your Treasury bills investments.

Whiles treasury bills earns more return than term deposits and savings account, it still pays a lower return on investment if compared to the commercial bills or debts. Why? Credit quality. The credit quality of government is general assumed to be better than that of commercial companies and individuals. For example government can easily generate cash by raising tax but commercial companies cannot just increase their price.

Well these are the 15 points on Gambia treasury bills, is there any other thing you want to know about Treasury bills investment in the Gambia? Share your question or comment.

Every business manager would love to generate new product ideas in other to increase customers and sales for the firm. This also support the growth of any business as its existence largely depends on meeting […]

Your financial situation is a combination of every financial decision you’ve made up to this point. However, identifying your financial mistakes – and precisely where you went wrong – will help you avoid making more down […]

Advertisements

12 Comments

Hello Ebrima Sawaneh,
Whe have a bankaccount at the Standard Chartered in the Gambian. Whe are intrest in t-bills. Can i buy this only by the central bank of Gambia ore also by my own Standard Chatered bank.
Greetz Tieme

Hi Tieme, you can invest through your bank, Standard Chartered. All commercial banks are serving as an agent for central bank for treasury bills investment purposes. As at last week, the yield on 91, 182 and 364 days were
16.04%, 16.85% and 20.04% respectively. Let me know if you require any further clarification.
EBS

Hello Ebrima Sawaneh I am very grateful to God who enabled me to find your website…it’s such a great site!
I pray that more Gambians specially the youth gets to know your site. Cause many aspire to achieve great things but have little know how in terms of finance.

Hi Neil,
With the right documentation, some banks may allow you to open account over the net..
You do not have to own a business for you to buy T-bills.
Treasury bills incomes are not taxable in the Gambia; yes you can transfer the amount. However, note the bank charges, exchange rate fluctuation and tax in England.
Yes, you can advise your agent to re-invest at maturity. No limit.
GBP25k could yield an interest of about GBP1k for 3 months.

Thank you Ebrima
There are two options to this:1. If you want to receive D1 million (face value) in 3 months time, it means you will invest D958,700 (cost) at the beginning. That will give you an interest (profit) of D41,300 within 3 months.2. You can also invest D1,001,841.50 (cost) at the beginning, you will then receive D1,045,000 (Face value) at the end of 3 months. That will give you an interest (profit) of D43,158.50 .
I used the latest 3 months yield of 17.28%

Founder

My Name is Ebrima. I write about personal finance, small business and The Gambia to support young people. I also share articles about personal growth and success. Feel free to drop a message or download my free eBooks - HERE
read